Card having a tactually recognizable indication

ABSTRACT

A card which is readable by a card reader is provided, in which an insertion direction of the card relative to the card reader, and a transactional function of the card can be easily recognized by visually handicapped users. In particular, the card is made up of a card body having a machine readable portion thereon which is readable by the card reader only when the card is inserted in a predetermined direction, and further includes an indication formed in the card body. Such an indication enables a user to tactually recognize the insertion direction with respect to the card reader, as well as the purpose or transactional function of the card, merely by means of touching the card with one&#39;s fingers. In a first mode of the invention, the indication is provided by a depression or a projection, whereas according to other modes, cutouts, or a slanted side edge of the card body may provide the desired indication of direction or function of the card. A promotional card having a detachable section is also proposed in which the cutout is formed upon detachment of the detachable section. A set of cards may also be provided, each having a different transaction functional, as indicated by different indications, or positions of indications, on the respective cards.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relate to a card which has an information recordingportion thereon and which is used, for example, as a prepaid paymentcard, a credit card, a debit card, or the like.

DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART

Recently, prepaid payment cards, credit cards, debit cards, and thelike, made of a card body having an information recording portionthereon, are frequently used in public telephones, along highways, onrailroads, for shopping, or for performing banking procedures, etc. Formost cards used for performing such transactional functions, thedirection of insertion of the card into a card reader is determined inorder to ensure positional alignment of the information recordingportion of the card with a reading position of the card reader. However,cards of this type which have been used hitherto merely bear a print ofan arrow on their surfaces for indicating the proper insertiondirection, with or without printing of some additional wordingexplaining that the card should be inserted in the direction of theprinted arrow.

Therefore, users must visually recognize the indication. It is difficultto visually discriminate the insertion direction of the card withrespect to the card reader, particularly for visually handicappedpersons, or when the card is used in a dark place, and such users oftenexperience the inconvenience that the card must be reinserted into thereader repeatedly, after changing its direction of insertion.

Also, there are different kinds of cards having various transactionalfunctions for accomplishing different purposes. With conventional cards,users must distinguish the purpose of use of a particular card throughmeans of a visual print, or pattern of letters, appearing on the surfaceof the card. It is therefore very difficult for a visually handicappedperson to distinguish whether a card in his or her hand is the card thathe or she currently intends to use. Considering the numerous types ofcards that are progressively increasing and being used for variouspurposes and fields of society, this drawback creates a serious problem.

The invention is therefore directed to the problem that existing cardshaving an information recording portion thereon are inconvenient for usein dark places or for visually handicapped persons, because they have nomeans of indicating the insertion direction, or the specific kind orpurpose of use of the card, through tactile sensation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To solve the above-described problems, the present invention ischaracterized in that a card includes a card body having a tactuallyrecognizable indication, which indicates the kind of card or purpose ofits use, as well as the insertion direction of the card relative to acard reader.

With such means, users can confirm, both visually and tactually, thekind or purpose of use of the card, along with its insertion directionrelative to the card reader, and hence it is especially useful forvisually handicapped persons.

According to the first mode of the present invention, there is provideda card having a tactually recognizable depression or projection.

According to the second mode of the present invention, there is provideda card having a tactually recognizable cutout.

According to the third mode of the present invention, there is provideda card having a tactually recognizable indication formed along aperipheral edge of the card body.

According to the fourth mode of the present invention, there is provideda card having a tactually recognizable indication of a predeterminedshape, and provided at a predetermined position on the card bodydepending on the specific kind or purpose of use of the card.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1 to 4 are plan views showing embodiments according to the firstmode of the present invention;

FIGS. 5 to 10 are plan views showing embodiments according to the secondmode of the present invention;

FIGS. 11 and 12 are plan views showing embodiments according to thethird mode of the present invention; and

FIGS. 13 to 15 are plan views showing embodiments according to thefourth mode of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Preferred embodiments according to the first mode of the presentinvention shall now be described with reference to FIGS. 1 through 4.

In these embodiments, a card body 1 has a thin, generally rectangularconfiguration and is made of a plastic or cardboard material having asuitable thickness. For example, a magnetic layer is formed on theentire back surface of the card body to form an information recordingportion 2.

The card body has a tactually sensible indication 3 in the form of adepression or a projection made by a press. The indication 3 ispreferably formed in a asymmetric position on a plane of the card body 1so that the position of the indication gives knowledge on the insertiondirection relative to a card reader. In other words, as shown in any ofFIGS. 1 through 4, the indication 3 is not located along a central axialline of the card body 1, but rather is positioned so as to be offsetfrom such a central axial line.

FIG. 1 illustrates a triangular indication, FIG. 2 illustrates anindication in the form of a combination of a point and a line, FIG. 3illustrates a wave-shaped indication, and FIG. 4 illustrates a bar-codeindication.

Positions and configurations of the indications 3 can be easilyrecognized merely by touching them with the finger(s), because they areprojected or depressed from a level defined by the plane of the card.

Accordingly, users can determine the insertion direction of the cardrelative to the card reader (not shown) from the position of theindication, and in addition, can easily distinguish the kind or purposeof use of the card, or other useful information, using his or hertactile sense through use of one's fingers, from the configuration ofthe indication itself.

Especially, in the embodiments shown in FIGS. 2 through 4, the cards canalso bear various pieces of information in the form of braille markings,for example.

Various different forms of depressions or projections are usable as theindication 3, as long as they can be tactually recognized through humanfingers. Accordingly, the invention is not limited to the embodimentsdiscussed above. Additionally, any appropriate method may be employedfor forming the indication on the card body.

FIGS. 5 to 10 illustrate preferred embodiments according to the secondmode of the present invention, which differ from the embodiments shownin FIGS. 1 to 4 in that the indication 3 is a cutout.

FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate indications 3 in the form of triangular andcircular bores which may be made by punching, for example. FIGS. 7 and 8illustrate indications 3 in the form of semi-circular and V-shapednotches each made along a peripheral edge 4 of the card body 1.

In these embodiments, the insertion direction relative to a card reader,and the kind or purpose of use of the card, etc., can be tactuallyrecognized very easily from the position of the indication formed on thecard body 1, and the shape of the indication, in a manner similar to theembodiments shown in FIGS. 1 through 4.

FIG. 9 illustrates a card member 2 which includes a commemorative card 5and a card body 1 which can be readily cut and separated along a cuttingline 7 having a row of slits. As shown in FIG. 10, when the commemoratecard 5 is cut and detached from the card body 1, an indication 3, in theform of a notch, is created and appears along the cutting line 7.

FIGS. 11 and 12 illustrate preferred embodiments according to the thirdmode of the invention. FIG. 11 illustrates an indication 3 in the formof a sloped edge 41 provided on one of four sides of the card body 1,wherein as shown, three of the sides are each generally perpendicular toan adjacent side, whereas the sloped edge 41 defines a side which isdisposed non-orthogonally with respect to the other three sides. FIG. 12illustrates an indication 3 which is provided as a specificconfiguration for one corner 8 of the card body 1 and which is differentfrom the configurations of the other three corners 9 of the card body 1.With these embodiments, a user can readily ascertain the insertiondirection of the card relative to a card reader merely by tracing alongthe sides 4 of the card body 1 with his or her finger(s).

FIGS. 13 to 15 illustrate preferred embodiments according to the fourthmode of the present invention, in which a set or plurality of cards areprovided. Such a set is made up of different kinds of cards havingdifferent purposes of use (i.e. for effecting different transactionalfunctions), respectively, and wherein the cards are provided withdifferent modes of indication 3 thereon, which indicate not only theinsertion direction of each card relative to a card reader, but also thespecific kind or purpose of use for each respective card.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 13, cards A, B and C make up a set,wherein each card has a different kind or purpose of use. The cards A, Band C have different-shaped indications 31, 32 and 33 which are, forexample, different shapes of cutouts formed at predetermined samepositions of the card bodies 11, 12 and 13. In this embodiment, card Ahaving the indication 31 (V-shaped cutout) may be used for accessingpublic telephones, card B having the indication 32 (semi-circularcutout) may be used for purchasing railway tickets, and card C havingthe indication 33 (rectangular cutout) may be used for shopping. Thus, auser of these cards can readily distinguish both the specific kind orpurpose of use of each card, together with its insertion directionrelative to a card reader, merely by touching the indication 31, 32 or33 with his or her finger(s).

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 14, cards A, B and C make up a set,wherein each card has a different kind or purpose of use. The cards A, Band C have indications 31, 32 and 33, all of which are in the form of asemi-circular cutout, for example, but wherein such cutouts are locatedat different positions of the card bodies 11, 12 and 13, respectively,to enable a user to tactually distinguish both the specific kind orpurpose of use of each card, as well as the proper insertion direction,through use of his or her finger(s).

FIG. 15 illustrates a set of cards A, B and C, each being a differentkind of card, and having indications 31, 32 and 33 which comprisedifferent numbers of identically-shaped cutouts, thereby attaining thesame functions and advantages of the embodiments shown in FIGS. 13 and14.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY OF THE INVENTION

By using tactually sensible indications on card bodies, the presentinvention makes it very easy to quickly distinguish both the insertiondirection of a particular card relative to a card reader, as well as thecard's specific kind or purpose of use, even when the card is used in adark place or by a visually handicapped person.

It is also possible to select appropriate configurations and positionsof indications on such cards, which can be recognized both visually andtactually, thereby to facilitate both visually handicapped and ordinaryusers to readily distinguish both the insertion direction and thespecific kind or purpose of use of his or her card.

In addition to information as to its insertion direction and the kind orpurpose of use, the card may also include other kinds of information,such as a message, for example.

Further, according to the present invention, the tactually sensibleindication may be made either originally with issuance of the card, orupon or during actual use of the card by a user. In the latter case,information concerning the actual status of use of the card may be addedsequentially as additional tactually sensible indications.

What is claimed is:
 1. A card for insertion into a card reader,comprising:a card body; a machine readable portion on said card bodywhich is readable by said card reader only when said card body isinserted into said card reader in a predetermined direction; a tactuallyrecognizable indication positioned asymmetrically with respect to atleast one center axial line of said card body, for indicating aninsertion direction of said card body, wherein said indication comprisesa cutout in said card body for indicating a kind or purpose of use ofthe card, further comprising a detachable section detachably connectedto said card body, wherein said cutout is created in said card body onlywhen said detachable section is detached from said card body.
 2. A cardfor insertion into a card reader, comprising:a card body; a machinereadable portion on said card which is readable by said card reader onlywhen said card body is inserted into said card reader in a predetermineddirection; a tactually recognizable indication positioned asymmetricallywith respect to at least one center axial line of said card body, forindicating an insertion direction of said card body, wherein said cardbody is a four-sided roughly rectangularly shaped body, having threeedges thereof each of which is disposed at a 90° angle with respect toan adjacent edge, and wherein said indication comprises one edge of saidcard body which is non-orthogonally disposed with respect to said threeedges of said card body.